Norwegian Broadcasting Corp. (NRK) Customer Story

Who Is NRK?

The Norwegian Broadcasting Corp. (NRK) is the Norwegian public broadcaster. Its mission is to reach everyone in Norway – from the most southerly point to the land of the midnight sun up north, including the Sami indigenous group. The broadcaster has a presence in multiple locations across the country. The organization is currently transitioning from serial digital interface (SDI) to internet protocol (IP) technology – a major undertaking, according to Tech Lead and full-stack developer Stian Gjedrem.

That means that in the future NRK “will have centralized infrastructure, as opposed to a local footprint of hardware in several different locations,” Gjedrem explains, along with a broadcast workflow favoring lightweight yet powerful tools over traditional broadcast infrastructure.

“And to be able to transfer files from anywhere – that’s really something that’s going to be more and more important in the future.”

NRK uses MASV for several different use cases, including receiving files from reporters and ingesting them into internal storage and media asset management (MAM), sending and receiving files from OB trucks, and to share TV series episodes with partner broadcasters.

🏆 NRK Highlights:

• Operates three national television channels, 14 national radio channels, and a main news website.
• Operated with a budget of US$606M in 2023.
• Helps coordinate the New8 drama collaboration between eight public broadcasters in Germany, Belgium, Finland, and other European countries.
• Uses next-generation technology such as scroll-driven animations and AI-generated summaries to enhance storytelling and engagement. 

The Challenge: Finding Stable, Fast File Transfer For a Variety of Broadcast Use Cases

Challenge #1: The need for fast, reliable large file transfer for real-time broadcast workflows

Getting content back to headquarters in a timely and reliable manner wasn’t easy for reporters in the field using previous tools. NRK used an internally developed file transfer system that wasn’t always stable and performant – leading many of the company’s reporters and other staff to come up with workarounds. 

“People were using all kinds of different solutions,” explains Gjedrem, who is part of the NRK team that develops internal workflows and applications that interface with the MASV API. “We needed one official way to transfer files – and if it wasn’t reliable from the very start, journalists would use something else. 

“It just needed to work.”

Challenge #2: The need for easy integration with internal systems

The broadcaster needed a file transfer solution with easy-to-use tools that could integrate seamlessly into its internal workflows and interface with existing technology, such as: 

• A flexible API upon which to develop internal file transfer applications for reporters and other staff
• Automated tools to improve file transfer to and from OB trucks (during live sporting events with dozens of cameras, for example) and other locations. 

Challenge #3: The need for a simple yet powerful file-sharing portal

NRK also required an easy, web-based file-sharing portal it could use to share full-length drama series – with each file weighing between 300 and 400 GB, along with a mix of smaller associated files – with other broadcasters under the New8 initiative.

New8 is a content-sharing partnership between eight European broadcasters: Each broadcaster can upload an episode, and partner broadcasters can download and include it in their television schedule.

Portals had to be powerful, easy to use, automated, and come with crystal-clear file transfer visibility so NRK could track which broadcasters uploaded and downloaded which episodes of each series.

Challenge #4: The need for a cost-effective, simple way to onboard hundreds of users

Finally, NRK needed a file transfer solution that could accommodate several hundred users at an affordable cost, and with as few technical training sessions (and questions from users) as possible.

The Solution: ‘MASV Was the Fastest’

After putting out a request for proposals for file transfer and conducting in-depth testing, NRK eventually selected MASV for a few reasons – but a couple stood above the rest.

“MASV was the fastest,” Gjedrem says, adding that MASV’s ability to accommodate file packages of unlimited size and its API with good documentation were additional deciding factors. NRK benchmarked different solutions and saw that transfer speeds using MASV were up to 3X faster than the previous internal file transfer solution.

Fast, reliable large file transfer for reporters in the field

NRK now uses MASV to receive video/still images/audio from reporters in the field faster, more reliably, and with virtually no technical issues thanks to MASV’s private, accelerated network backed by AWS infrastructure.

• Reporters can use a MASV Portal to upload files from virtually any device, anywhere with a connection – including their mobile phones. Portals are linked to on-prem storage and the company’s MAM for direct ingest to internal systems.
• The company also uses the MASV Desktop App in its OB trucks to automate footage, teasers, highlight reels, and other content uploads from fast-moving live broadcasts and sporting events.

“MASV made it easy to build an automated workflow that makes it as easy and as fast as possible to deliver content from the field, to the production system, and have it ready for air as soon as possible.” Gjedrem says.

Easy-to-use tools and a robust API with rock-solid documentation

NRK used the MASV API to underpin its internal Field Delivery Application, a simple user interface it developed using a javascript client to allow the fast, reliable file sharing from the field explained above.

But that wasn’t the only integration the MASV API helped make a reality: NRK also integrated MASV into its MAM.

• Now, users can create download packages directly from a video clip in the MAM – the recipient receives an email notification to the file, which they can then forward to colleagues for easy sharing.
• The MAM integration allows clips to be transferred to and from OB trucks (users can select a specific truck as a destination, with each instance of the MASV Desktop App in each truck attached to an individual Portal) automatically using a MASV Watch Folder.

Gjedrem says that the API was easy to work with, and that help from the MASV team was always available if needed. The broadcaster even has a Slack channel with MASV support staff they can turn to for immediate assistance.

“We’ve created workflows using the MASV API to both send files and upload them to the correct Portal, and also to listen, receive, and download packages if they’re sent from the truck. Then they get ingested into the MAM or storage.”

Web-based, embeddable, dead-simple file sharing portals

Along with the use of MASV Portals mentioned above, NRK now uses them as a file-sharing hub for the New8 drama series exchange. NRK set up a Portal that all eight broadcasters have access to – if one broadcaster uploads an episode, the other broadcasters are notified and can download the files.

• Fjellestad says MASV has made episode sharing easy, fast, and reliable for NRK’s broadcast partners.
• NRK handles invoicing for the project and uses MASV’s centralized administration and file transfer monitoring tools to track which broadcasters downloaded and uploaded what content.

“The usage details in the admin console come in quite handy,” says Gjedrem’s colleague Stian Fjellestad, adding that the Portal uses tags to track content. “You can see which broadcaster uploaded what, and it’s easy to attribute costs or anything like that to each partner.”

The broadcaster even set up a Portal to ingest user-generated content (UGC) from selected everyday Norwegians during the country’s national Constitution Day celebrations.

An easy-to-use interface and no per-seat fees

Along with easy integrations, Gjedrem says MASV’s reliability means it’s a low-maintenance file transfer solution.

“Most of our employees use MASV without even knowing it,” he says, adding that the Desktop App in the OB trucks took just a few minutes to set up.

Such ease of use is critical, given NRK’s user base of more than 800 employees who use MASV – along with MASV’s unlimited free Portals and no per-seat fees. You can set up as many Portals as you like, and add as many collaborators or team members as you need, without incurring additional charges.

The Result: Simple and Fast Large File Sharing In a Fast-Paced Broadcast Environment

“It just needed to work” is imprinted on MASV’s DNA; NRK says that mantra has helped it scale its many file transfer workflows into a seamless internal solution that works in lockstep with internal systems with minimal technical issues or support requests.

“MASV is one of the systems with the least amount of support requests,” says Fjellestad.

Indeed, while NRK has been a MASV client for a few years now, the company has incurred minimal problems using the system – both in terms of integrations and everyday usage.

“It was quite easy to set up,” says Gjedrem. “We didn’t require a lot of help. I don’t remember any sleepless nights.”

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